Last Night From Glasgow’s Hive imprint is home to yet another sublime pop masterpiece in the shape of Daniel Wylie’s Cosmic Rough Riders latest long player, Atoms and Energy. Mr Wylie has pulled it out of the bag once again with this collection of ten bewitchingly charming and perfectly formed melodic treasures.
This man’s knack for writing an addictive song grabbed me from the off, nearly wearing new grooves on both sides of The Thieves single Talk Your Head Off/The Party and feeling aggrieved when an album never surfaced with a release of one of my live favourites at the time, Star Spangled Banner.
Fortunately, we weren’t deprived of his songwriting talents for long after he resurfaced with Cosmic Rough Riders and a sound that had developed and matured, its roots in the past but very much forward facing. For Atoms and Energy he has once again joined forces with some of Scotland’s revered instrumentalists, the inimitable Neil Sturgeon and guitar slinger in demand, Johnny Smillie alongside percussionist Stu Kidd. The resultant collection of songs is a veritable treasure chest of melodic harmonies.
Profoundly Affecting
Maybe it is age catching up with me, a year of COVID playing with my emotions, or maybe it is because Daniel Wylie has a knack for writing a heartfelt, affecting lyric and pairing it with a charismatic melody but I found myself quite profoundly affected by this album.
There is an underlying air of melancholy that runs throughout, you only need to take the subject matter of the first three songs to get an idea. Domestic abuse is tackled sympathetically in the opening song, The Bruises and the Blood, with loss and death not far from the surface in the following brace of achingly beautiful songs Heaven’s Waiting Room and God is Nowhere.
Don’t get me wrong though, this is by no means a depressing listen. The way Daniel and his cohort tackle the subjects both lyrically and musically is nothing short of enchanting. The empathy portrayed in the unfolding stories is palpable, the sympathetic production and arrangements of the music perfectly creating the mood of the album.
Love and Humanity
There is not a moment on this album where you would want to skip a song, or feel that a song doesn’t have a place. Our Love will Never Die could have been written by Harvest Moon era Neil Young, the song that gives the album its title is just one of the highlights, but this is a collection of songs that works so well as a whole piece. There may be that melancholic undertone, but this is not a sad album. It is an uplifting album that pulls you in and allows you to reflect on your life. Ultimately it feels like an album of love and humanity, one that displays a real feeling of tenderness and affection for friends and loved ones. A message of caring.
I did experience a shiver, a physical reaction to the songs at various points, a reaction that reminded me of the reasons why I love music so much. It has the ability to move you, to change and influence your mood, to trigger feelings and memories. A theme perfectly reflected in A Memory. Wylie also gets the reaction I imagine he would have wanted from the closing song. Saddle Up the Horses is close to bringing a tear to the eye. The vocal on this song portrays so much emotion and the lyrics conjure up so many reflections of my own past. He has a knack for tugging at the heartstrings, of highlighting the fragility of life and the fleeting time we have on earth.
Edifying
I have to repeat though, this album is in no way bleak or sombre. It has an edifying effect, inspiring you to consider how lucky you are to be alive as you listen to the singing guitars and the perceptive and compassionately delivered lyrics. We may all yearn for the days when we were young and invigorated, but if this the sort of music that comes from having a bit of life experience then I’m all for it. Quite remarkable.
Buy the album now from Last Night From Glasgow